metropolitan

noun met·ro·pol·i·tan \ ˌme-trə-ˈpä-lə-tən \

Updated on: 9 Dec 2017

Definition of metropolitan

1 : the primate of an ecclesiastical province

2 : one who lives in a metropolis or displays metropolitan manners or customs

See metropolitan defined for kids

Examples of metropolitan in a Sentence

a TV series about the lives and loves of a group of young, attractive metropolitans

Recent Examples of metropolitan from the Web

Iakovos served the in the Greek Orthodox Church for nearly 50 years and was the first metropolitan of Chicago.

— meredith colias, Post-Tribune, "Head of Chicago Greek Archdiocese remembered for common touch," 7 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'metropolitan.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of metropolitan

14th century

metropolitan Synonyms

Synonyms

city slicker, cosmopolite, cosmopolitan, slicker, sophisticate

Antonyms

bumpkin, hick, provincial, rustic, yokel

Related Words

urbanite; worldling

Other Sociology Terms

bourgeois, ethos, eugenics, exurb, incommunicado, intelligentsia, megalopolis, metrosexual, mores, subculture

metropolitan

adjective

Definition of metropolitan

1 : of or constituting a metropolitan or his see

2 : of, relating to, or characteristic of a metropolis and sometimes including its suburbs

3 : of, relating to, or constituting a mother country as distinguished from a colony

See metropolitan defined for English-language learners

Examples of metropolitan in a Sentence

the greater New York metropolitan area
This is one of the best seafood restaurants in metropolitan Los Angeles.

Recent Examples of metropolitan from the Web

Rents have jumped 50 percent in the past five years, the fastest growth of the top 233 U.S. metropolitan areas, according to Zillow.

— patrick clark, Bloomberg.com, "Deadly California Fires Stretch an Already Tight Housing Market," 13 Oct. 2017
Teacher pay is a sore spot for the thousands of educators who struggle to live in an increasingly expensive metropolitan area in a state that ranks near the bottom of the country in state funding per student.

— alex harris, miamiherald, "Miami Dade County public school teachers could get a raise | Miami Herald," 30 Oct. 2017
The exterior: Outside, the only work Kochi did was to repaint the exterior and remove the staircase to make room for off-street parking — a legal requirement for car owners in metropolitan Tokyo.

— wendy goodman, The Cut, "Inside a 24-Room Tokyo Home That Feels Like a Painting," 3 Oct. 2017
The university fired coach Rick Pitino, and though few people outside the greater Louisville metropolitan area mourn his demise, millions more college-sports fans wonder when the next basketball shoe will drop.

— david french, National Review, "An Open Letter to Conservatives about the NCAA," 29 Sep. 2017
The global food services and hospitality company is based in Charlotte and has 2,500 employees spread out across 415 locations in the metropolitan area.

— heidi finley, charlotteobserver, "Compass Group: A workplace that carries the opportunity to go anywhere," 28 Sep. 2017
The car must be picked up from one of the following metropolitan areas, including Boston, Hartford, Buffalo, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Washington DC, Richmond, and Norfolk and returned to a location in Florida.

— lyndsey matthews, Country Living, "In the Wake of Hurricane Irma, Rental Companies Now Offering $5 Car Rentals from Northeast to Florida," 27 Sep. 2017
Amazon is targeting metropolitan areas with more than one million people and within a 45-minute drive to an international airport.

— alyssa newcomb, NBC News, "Why Amazon’s New $5 Billion Headquarters May Ruin Your City," 19 Oct. 2017
One of Puerto Rico's biggest treatment plants discharges into a river that feeds Lake Carraizo, a reservoir that provides drinking water for half of the metropolitan San Juan area.

— CBS News, "Raw sewage contaminating water in Puerto Rico after Maria," 17 Oct. 2017

Origin and Etymology of metropolitan

Middle English, from Late Latin metropolitanus of the see of a metropolitan, from metropolita, noun, metropolitan, from Late Greek mētropolitēs, from mētropolis see of a metropolitan, from Greek, capital

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First Known Use: 15th century

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